


Falling Down Cliffs

by morrezela



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Concussions, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26223952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrezela/pseuds/morrezela
Summary: Anders falls down a cliff, and Sebastian rescues him
Relationships: Anders/Sebastian Vael
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18
Collections: Black Emporium 2020





	Falling Down Cliffs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Razzaroo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razzaroo/gifts).



Having a crush wasn’t the most unexpected thing that Anders had ever experienced. He’d once openly bragged about being a ladies’ man to the Hero of Ferelden of all people. It wasn’t like he was inexperienced or ashamed of his sexual attractions. In most situations, it was quite the opposite. A wilting flower was something he’d never been in his entire life.

But even Anders knew that there were boundaries he shouldn’t be flirting with crossing… or even flirting with period. Flaunting rules was something he’d normally live for. Challenging the status quo had practically become his calling in life. Yet there was a difference between challenging norms and steamrolling over the sacred. Hewas sure that lusting after one of Andraste’s fsithful was the former.

Certainty, however, didn’t keep his eyes from wandering over to places they shouldn’t. Nobody noticed when they did. Why would they? As far as everyone else was concerned, Sebastian Vael was far from his favorite person. Sebastian was far from anyone’s favorite person. Maybe Andraste loved him, but that was about it.

Not even his own family had loved him. Which, if Anders thought about it too much, was pretty fucking sad. So he usually didn’t think about it except when he was feeling maudlin and wanted company for his sad thoughts. 

Thoughts like, “I’m going to die. But in the case that I don’t die, I’m going to kill Hawke.” Uncharitable though they were given the fact that Hawke couldn’t have known that the cliff face was going to collapse, Anders meant them. At least, he meant them as much as he could while facing down his doom as the mud of the Wounded Shore conspired with the rain to swallow him whole.

“Anders!” a familiar brogue rung in his ears. Anders wasn’t sure if it was a great or a terrible hallucination to keep him company as he died. One the one hand, he really shouldn’t be thinking of Sebastian as anything other than an annoyance. On the other hand, he was dying and surely Andraste would want one of her servants to help him in the process.

“Blessed Andraste, Bride of the Maker…” the words were tinny and accompanied by a horrific clank of metal. Anders blinked against the water and grit in his eyes as he tried to focus. He might be dying, but surely his brain wouldn’t be that faithful to its imagined Sebastian.

The blur of white that imposed itself over the dark grey of the sky confirmed Anders’s suspicions, as did the painful torqueing of his shoulder as the mud he’d been buried in fought to keep him. The earth’s might proved no match to a surprisingly strong archer though. It let go of Anders’s body with a gross plop, leaving it’s grody remnants stuck to every bit of clothing it could.

Sebastian didn’t let him rest to get his bearings, dragging him away from his incomplete entombment, mud furrowing up around feet that Anders couldn’t seem to make walk. The relief of not dying was eclipsed by the pounding in his skull. As embarrassing as it was, it was all Anders could do to stay conscious. He’d just have to swear Sebastian to secrecy on the matter later.

Wherever they went, it wasn’t far. Or maybe Anders had just passed out for a bit, and Sebastian had dragged him for hours. It was hard to tell. All that was clear was that Anders was propped up against a rock in a shallow alcove that was doing a poor job of protecting them from the rain.

Oh, and Sebastian’s hand was cradling his head. Which seemed weird, but Anders couldn’t quite remember why.

“Come on now,” Sebastian’s voice was soft and coaxing. “I can’t do all this by myself, you know.”

Anders tried to give an acerbic reply. He was sure he had one. Could probably come out with something insulting about the Chantry that would make Sebastian huff in that saintly way of his, but all that came out was a pathetic groan and what felt suspiciously like drool. … he should care about that.

“Alright, alright. Just…” There was a hand bracing itself on his jaw, and the unmistakable feeling of a thumb pressing itself against the side of his lips.

“Wharyding,” Anders managed to sort of say. Which was neither coherent nor a good move given that the thumb was now wedged against his bottom teeth, holding his mouth open. Also, it tasted of sand. He bit down against it, but it didn’t move.

There was a satisfying hiss of something that sounded like a curse word. But it also sounded like Sebastian’s voice, so he was probably wrong about that. Also, there was a thumb in his mouth, and when did that get there? And where was he?

He was about to ask his questions, or maybe bite down on the offending thumb so he could ask those questions with a clear mouth, when the unmistakable opening of a potion vile wedged itself in alongside said thumb.

“Just drink the damn this this time,” the distant order came as the familiar taste of a healing potion mixed with dirt in his mouth. It was vile, but the thumb had disappeared, so there was a plus side to everything.

Bad as the potion tasted, the pounding in Anders’s head immediately started to clear, and the fog in his brain lifted enough that he could feel the sorry state that the rest of his body was in. He shook his head a bit to clear it before opening his eyes.

A disheveled Sebastian was crouched in front of him. His normally slicked back hair was a riot of waves. His white armor scratched and stained with dirt. His impossibly blue eyes were just as beautiful as ever. And his thumb was bleeding from what looked like a bite mark.

“Do you remember what happened?” Sebastian asked.

“Not exactly, but I’m guessing I bit you?” Anders replied.

“Before that,” Sebastian clarified.

“Hawke being greedy and the path we were on collapsing,” Anders supplied. “I’m guessing Hawke sent you after me?”

The gaze that Sebastian had been levelling at him immediately broke away. His good hand, the one with the unbitten digit, rubbed at the back of his neck. “No. I, uh, came down after you myself. Hawke… I don’t know where Hawke is. Hopefully getting help. I didn’t exactly wait for confirmation on that.”

Anders blamed his injuries and apparently fading concussion for how soft the, “Oh,” that came out of his mouth was.

“Anyway, I don’t have any more potions. I tried to give you one earlier, but you weren’t having it. Sorry about the,” Sebastian made a hand gesture that seemed to mean, _“Sorry for sticking my gross thumb into your mouth in order to save you from permanent brain damage.”_

Anders wasn’t sure how to respond to that, or if he even safely could after the, “Oh,” incident. So he opted to change the subject. “I told Hawke to buy more potions. But, as usual, he didn’t listen.”

Sebastian huffed out something close to a laugh as he shifted to sit down beside him. “Well, you could always write a manifesto about it. He might listen then.”

Anders would be insulted if not for the teasing tone, and the fact that the ends of Sebastian’s hair really were distracting when they were all loose and… flirty. “Maybe you should make a sermon about it instead.”

This time, Sebastian truly did laugh. “We all know I’m the last person Hawke listens to. I’m not even sure why I’m in the crew to begin with. Well, aside from the fact that my aim is better than Varric’s.”

“Because you’re pretty,” Anders said to those damn teasing, auburn locks.

“Oh,” Sebastian replied with an even more embarrassing tone than Anders had used. Unfortunately, he didn’t follow it up with an inquiry towards Anders’s head. Probably too well educated to blame it on a now faded concussion.

They stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before Sebastian gave a soft smile. “Well, I’d say you’re pretty too. But you’re a mess right now. So I’ll just say that I didn’t jump down a cliff to save you because you’re the only healer I know.”

That, Anders supposed, was either going to be enough or the start of the worst decision either of them ever made.


End file.
